Top Three Performing Clubs in 2024
By: Anthony Tazbaz
Image Credit: Nathan Wong
As we approach the annual curtain call to a calendar year of football, we are delving into the highlights of the second half the 2023-24 season and the first half of the 2024-25 European club season.
However, every year we witness clubs that did not perform to expectations. For example, Serie A club SSC Napoli experienced multiple series of difficult losses and failed to muster consistent performances. As a result, the southern Italian club finished in 10th place in the 2023-24 Serie A table and failed to qualify for either of the three European club competitions: UEFA Champions League (UCL), UEFA Europa League (UEL) and UEFA Conference League.
In addition to losses and inconsistencies, some clubs experience historically bad seasons. In the Premier League (EPL), Sheffield United finished dead-last in the 2023-24 EPL table, winning only three matches out of 38 — only one of which came in 2024 — and conceding a record 104 goals; their 35 goals scored amounted to a staggering -69 goal differential.
Finally, after years of struggle — both on and off the pitch — some clubs lose their professional status, and experience relegation to non-professional leagues. That was the case with French club Girondins de Bordeaux, which after years of declining performances and a relegation to Ligue 2 in 2022, financial hardship, and mounting debt, entered administration and relinquished their status as a professional club, thereby marking rock-bottom in their 104-year history as a football club; Bordeaux were initially founded in 1889 as a gymnastics and shooting club. As a result, Bordeaux bypassed conventional relegation from Ligue 2 to the Championnat National — France’s third division — and suffered relegation to France’s Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of French football.
In this analysis, however, we evaluate the three best performing clubs within the countries that host Europe’s five best league: England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. This analysis includes not only their performances in league action during the second half of 2023-24 and the first half of 2024-25, but also their performances in cup competitions (e.g., FA Cup) and European competitions (e.g., UCL). Without further ado, let us begin our analysis.
Bayer Leverkusen
The German club took Europe by storm during the first half of 2024, finishing the 2023-24 season undefeated in domestic competitions, namely in Bundesliga and the DfB Pokal, Germany’s cup competition. That said, within the last month of the 2023-24 season, Leverkusen ultimately won their first Bundesliga title and their second DfB Pokal title; according to Bundesliga, Leverkusen are only the sixth club to win the domestic double.
Their 40-match unbeaten run in domestic competitions also continued into the 2024-25 season, during which they also won their first DfL-Super Cup title via penalties against VfB Stuttgart (2-2 after extra-time). However, their unbeaten streak ended on August 31, 2024 following a 3-2 loss against league rivals RB Leipzig.
Overall, Leverkusen maintained an unbeaten run across all domestic competitions — Bundesliga, DfB Pokal and DfL-Super Cup — for 43 matches from May 2023 to August 2024. Although they lost the 2023-24 UEL final against Serie A club Atalanta BC, Leverkusen’s 12-match unbeaten run to that final and their 13 points in four matches — and currently ranked fourth out of 36 clubs — in the 2024-25 UCL league stage also places Leverkusen among the best-performing clubs in European competitions throughout 2024.
Although Leverkusen have not exactly replicated their 2023-24 Bundesliga form, the club currently ranks in second place of the 2024-25 Bundesliga table, and trail leaders Bayern Munich by only four points. In 15 matches, Leverkusen accumulated 32 points, raking in nine wins, five draws and only that one loss against Leipzig. Their Bundesliga title defence remains very much alive, and a Bayern Munich slip-up could open the door to Leverkusen surpassing the Bavarian club and repeating as Bundesliga winners.
Atalanta BC
As previously mentioned, the Italian club deserve their place among the 2024 best-performing clubs after defeating the once-believed “unbeatable” Leverkusen by a 3-0 score in the UEL final, and winning the 2023-24 edition of that competition. This triumph represents Atalanta’s first European trophy and only their second major trophy; the Bergamo-based club won the Coppa Italia in 1962-63. Moreover, Atalanta and Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman — the player who scored all three of Atalanta’s goals in their 3-0 win against Leverkusen — earned the 2024 African Ballon d’Or, which is awarded to the best performing African player throughout the calendar year.
Beyond UEL, Atalanta finished the 2023-24 Serie A campaign in fourth place with 69 points, garnering 21 wins, six draws and 11 losses. In Coppa Italia, Atalanta mustered a strong run to the 2023-24 Coppa Italia final, in which they lost narrowly by a 1-0 score against Serie A giants Juventus FC. However, Atalanta’s run to the final earned them a berth in the 2025 Supercoppa Italiana, which will be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 2-6, 2025.
In 2024-25 — so far — Atalanta are ranked first place ex aequo with Napoli in the Serie A table, having accumulated 41 points in 18 matches. As well, Atalanta forwards Mateo Retegui and Lookman currently rank in joint-first and third place in league scoring with 12 and nine league goals, respectively.
The Bergamo-based club also concluded 2024 with 14 consecutive matches unbeaten in Serie A and Coppa Italia, combined. In 2024-25 UCL action, Atalanta rank among Europe’s finest, having earned 11 points in six matches and are sitting just one point behind a number of clubs ranked in the UCL league stage top-eight positions. With two remaining matches in the UCL league stage, Atalanta can qualify for a top eight position should they put together performances that are on par with those this season.
Liverpool FC
After a difficult 2023 that saw them finish in fifth place in the 2022-23 EPL table and settle for qualification to the 2023-24 edition of the UEL — during which they lost in the quarterfinals against eventual winners Atalanta — Liverpool enjoyed a resurgent season. In the second half of the 2023-24 EPL season, Liverpool garnered 12 wins, three losses and four draws, which combined with their record from the first half of that season during 2023, placed Liverpool in third — with 82 points from 38 matches — which enabled the club to return to the UCL ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Regarding cup competitions, in February 2024, Liverpool hoisted the 2023-24 EFL Cup after winning the final against Chelsea FC by a 1-0 score after extra-time. Liverpool’s win against their London-based rivals resulted in their 10th EFL Cup title, as well as their second in a three-season period. In the 2023-24 FA Cup, despite losing in the quarterfinals against rivals and eventual winners Manchester United by a 4-3 score after extra-time, Liverpool nevertheless had a respectable run during a period in which they aimed to finish the 2023-24 season among the EPL’s top-four clubs and consequently earn a qualification to the following season’s UCL.
In 2024-25 — so far — despite having a new management personnel following the departure of newest club legend Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool have dominated the EPL, raking in 42 points — 13 wins, three draws and only one loss — in 17 matches. As a result, Liverpool rank first place in the 2024-25 EPL table, and hold a six-point lead ahead of second-place Arsenal FC, despite playing one match less than their counterparts.
In UCL, after playing six out of eight matches in the 2024-25 UCL league stage, Liverpool also sit in first place. In that competition, Liverpool maintain a perfect record of six wins, having conceded only one goal, which occurred in the third minute of their opening match against Serie A club AC Milan.
Finally, Liverpool are also set to kick off their 2024-25 EFL Cup semifinal first leg match (out of two) against London-based rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Liverpool hope to not only successfully defend their EFL Cup title, but also make history by winning the four winnable major trophies for an English club: EFL Cup, EPL, FA Cup and UCL.
Despite a successful 2024, the northern English club must look towards making 2025 a historic and unforgettable year, during which they could also win the FA Community Shield, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, all of which take place during the second half of 2025.
Honourable mentions:
Bologna FC: Despite boasting only a US $29 million budget — the fifteenth-lowest in Serie A — finished in fifth place in the 2023-24 Serie A campaign, and qualified for the 2024-25 UCL campaign, a first since winning the Serie A title in 1964.
Inter Milan: Won the 2023-24 Serie A title — their 20th in club history (see our article on clubs with 20+ league titles); currently rank in third place with one match in hand compared to first- and second-place Atalanta and Napoli in the 2024-25 Serie A campaign; and currently rank in sixth place in the 2024-25 UCL league stage, with only one goal conceded.
Stade Brestois (Brest): Overcame astronomical odds and adversity to finish in second place in the 2023-24 Ligue 1 campaign and clinched a UCL berth for the first time in club history; Brest also rank an impressive seventh place in the 2024-25 UCL campaign, becoming only the second club in UCL history — after Lazio in 1999-2000 — to gain at least 13 points after 12 UCL matches.
